Tag Archives: Investigative Focus

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Q: I find myself being wavering and ambivalent much of the time. I never keep my resolutions. It’s hard for me to decide on what to do and to make commitments. How do I reach the state of “one-pointed mind” that the most dynamic and successful people have?

A: There are seven “power states” of the mind. These are:

Concentration – This occurs when you collect your mind stuff, which produces mental alertness and presence.

Decision – This happens when you select one action from other options, together with putting aside other options.

Commitment – This operates as an emotional affirmation and tenacity to complete a long- term goal.

Union – This is the state of mystic union or Samadhi, in which your attention in a state of voidness and Being, or united with an essence of consciousness.

Investigative focus – This is a state of inquiry in which the mind asks continual questions until it arrives at correct answer, exact knowledge, clear understanding, and full realization and mastery of the object of inquiry. This intensive discernment opens the Buddhic capsule of the Soul and brings about enlightenment.

Faith – This is the absolute conviction of the existence and Presence of God through establishing a dynamic connection with the Divine through the cord of faith. Your reception of God’s comfort and love, God’s communication of guidance and direction to you, and your expression of love, devotion, and worship for God mark the presence of faith. This may also face the form of igniting the love and devotion of your spirit, together with an irresistible yearning to go back to your Divine Source.

Creation – This occurs when you generate one-pointed intention marshalling the forces of your attentional principle to create and manifest what you desire. This can take the form of an affirmation, decree, or powerful suggestion. Making attunements also uses this magnetizing of your intentional force.

You can activate these “power states” through remembering an incident in your life when you experienced these states in your life. Inquire, what were the circumstances, the way your saw the world, when you were able to muster these powerful focusing forces within you.

See if you can replicate that energy through focusing your attention upon it, and notice what enables it to come forward.

You can also observe another person who models this quality, and determine what enables him or her to express this quality. Cultivate this quality in yourself. [My mentor, Eben Pagan, used to say that if you want to become successful, spend time with people who are more successful than you, and their qualities will rub off on you.]

Resolve to learn how to acquire these seven “power states” of mind. Do not stop until you have developed them to a state of proficiency.

If you understand how each of these “power states” of the mind operates, you can readily acquire them.

Concentration arises from one-pointed intention. Intention is a faculty of your intentional consciousness, which we call the attentional principle. You use intention to collect your attention and move it to discrete focal points. [We teach this practice in our Introduction to Meditation Program. We show you how to focus your attention and explore each level of your Conscious, Subconscious, and Metaconscious mind, and activate your abilities at these levels.]
Decision arises from the faculty of volition that is anchored in the Self at the core of your personality. Your intellect frames the options available to you, and their pros and cons, and you choose the option that appears to be best.

Commitment engages your desire body, which provides the tenacity, courage, perseverance, and long-term staying power to stay with a decision you make for as long as it takes to reach your goal. This can take the form of obtaining a college degree, sustaining a marriage to raise your children together and spend your retirement with your life partner, or saving for your retirement throughout your working career. If you can make an important life decision, activating your desire body can translate your choice into the motivation that will drive you forward through the difficult periods and get you to your goal.

Union unites your attention with an object of meditation. Your intention focuses your attention on that meditation object. Your awareness opens. You become completely absorbed, at one with this object of meditation. [We teach you how to produce the state of union through our training in Raja Yoga, which is a part of our intermediate training, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]

Investigative focus activates your faculty of reason through your will. It can stimulate your quest to find out the causes of selected phenomena; in this aspect, it is the driving force of scientific research and discovery. In its higher form, it appears as incessant questioning that you direct to your attentional principle, your spirit, or your Soul. This opens the Soul’s illumined mind, and progressively leads your attention to the state of enlightenment—when all of your Soul’s wisdom and knowledge is opened to you. [We teach you how to tap into your intuitive stream that can answer your questions through our training in Jnana Yoga, which is a part of our intermediate training, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]

Faith connects you with God through the cord of faith and remembrance. Through this connection, you establish a dialog and loving relationship with the form of the Divine to which you pray and invoke. Its higher counterpart awakens when you focus your attention on your spirit. [We teach you how to awaken your spirit and show it how to travel back to its Divine Source through our training in Nada Yoga, which is a part of our intermediate training, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]

Creation focuses the forces of thought, contemplation, suggestion and affirmation to anchor what you intend in the Subconscious and Superconscious mind. Its higher counterpart is to “carry the Light” and make attunements. [We teach you how to activate the power of creation through affirmation and how to do attunements in the Invocational Methods and Agni Yoga modules of our training, which is a part of our intermediate training, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]

Develop these “power states” of mind within yourself, and you will transform the way you study and learn, the way you operate in your career, and the way you achieve your personal goals. It will also enhance your meditation and communion with God.

The mind does not work at its best in a state of duality, polarity, or ambivalence. Find the point of clarity, synthesis, and purpose: this will enable you to summon forth these “power states” of mind. This will connect you with your innate ability to do what you say you will, to complete and achieve your personal goals, and to fulfill your spiritual destiny. Settle for nothing less.